Making a grocery list?

If you have called your local grocer lately, chances are instead of the routine ringing or caller tune, you were greeted with offers and promotions on brands of Hindustan Unilever (HUL).

The customized caller tune is part of the new marketing initiative, which HUL has started in Mumbai and Delhi in partnership with a small set of neighborhood grocers. This brilliant idea of tapping kiranawallahs instead of supermarkets and malls has worked and HUL’s direct distribution has reached from 2 million outlets in 2012 to 3.2 million in 2013. Local grocers contribute 72% to overall FMCG sales, which is growing at 9% faster than modern trade.

Consumer sales can be easily influenced and it is this reason of working up the consumer sub-conscious, which prompted HUL to launch this initiative to increase availability of products in local stores.  Only thing – of you call your grocer more than one time a day and every day, the customized caller tune of HUL can get quite grating on the nerve – the flip side of such advertising.